Encaged In Flames
by Kage Youkai
Summary: Sequal to Encaged in Ice. 500 years ago a shogun encaged three beautiful girls in ice. Three years ago they were given another chance at life. Now they are forced to fight for the life they were given.
1. Day To Day

Kagome was currently on a double date with Sango, who was enjoying a plate of sushi. Kagome herself had ordered Soba and chicken, and Shikamaru ordered riceballs while Kakashi got dumplings. They were enjoying a pleasent coversation, with Kagome casually arguing with Shikamaru, and Sango accusing Kakashi of being a pervert.

"Shikamaru, you lazy bum, I told you not to mess with the dog, but no! So I hate to say it, but I told ya so!" Kagome said playfully. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "I don't recall you saying not to mess with the dog. Infact, I remember you saying that I _should_ play with it, and second of all, you loved to say I told ya so, and you know it." he said. Kagome shook her head. "I never said you should pull the dogs tail, or it's mouth. Playing with a dog consits of fetch and tag! So it's not my fault Akamaru bit you!" she said. "I never said it was your fault. You just assumed I would think that and therefore began this entirely pointless and troublesome conversation." he said. "Pointless? Troublesome? You think spending time with me is _troublesome_?!" she asked. His eyes widened and he turned urgently. "N-No!" he said, but the glared when Kagome burst into giggles. "Kagome, you really need to stop doing that." he said, shaking his head and causing her to only laugh harder.

"Ahhh, crisp morning air is the best!" Kagome said contentedly, stretching as she walked to the defensive training grounds. Most of the ninja were already there waiting, some were eating, and some still looked asleep. "Alright, time for barrier practice! Everyone, main chakra concentration, and try to time it right this time!" she demanded. All of the ninja nodded and began handseals. "Group 1, Standard Barrier, Erect!" she comanded. Suddenly a large blue protection barrier formed. "Group 2, Secondary Barrier!" she ordered. The second group made all the groups invisible. "Hold it firm!" she yelled out, and heard a collective grunt as response. Kagome also focused her energy and added support to the two barriers. Two hours later all the Shinobi and Kagome fell to the floor, exhausted.

"Alright! I want training to double! After all these recent Akatsuki attacks we've weakened, and we can't have Konoha go into ruins! We all have the ability to grow more powerful than any Akatsuki memeber, but we haven't mastered that potential, so I plan to work your mental and physical strength ten times past the point of exhaustion and defeat!" Sango spoke passionatly, with ferocity past what any of the ninja's had ever seen. And so, they trained, and as Sango had promised, they were so exhausted by the end of it that they collapsed half dead and already asleep by the end of it. Sango sat panting tiredly on the floor, sweat pooling around her after her huge workout.

Ino and Hinata worked the farming comunity to the bone since Nezhul's departure three years before. Both 18 year olds had developed harsh callouses from tilling the soil constantly, always watering plants, neverending work. The two girls were always exhausted and weak feeling. It was an exhausting job, but they were both confident that they were helping Konoha by doing this. And they knew that when it came down to it, they'd do anything for Konoha.

A long sigh emitted from rosy lips as Tsunade tried desperatly to finish all of her long and boring paperwork. Finally she gave up and handed the task over to Shizune. Some of the paper work was irrelevant, and some just too much of a bother. She then walked out and observed the village in one of it's rare moments of peace. Recently the village had been suffering constant attacks from the Akatsuki and Orochimaru, and they had been going through hell just trying to keep alive and running. Konoha had fallen upon hard times, and it almost brought Tsunade to tears at the optimism the ninja still held, convinced that somehow they'd make it through this. It was awe inspiring, considering how little hope their was to cling onto still. Many ninja had been lost in the furious, and many continued to put their lives on the line in every battle, their deaths almost inevitable. Konoha's outlook on the future was bleak, yet the ninja never gave up even at the cost of their own life. The original rookie nine was still alive, each working just as hard as any other ninja, as well as their sensei's, Iruka, and a few ANBU here and there, but that was almost it. The great Konoha reduced to a little less than 20 ninja, excluding genin, it was a pitiful sight to see.

"Hey! Would you hurry up!" Kagome exclaimed, waving energetically to Sango, who was walking along the brooke quietly. "Alright! I'm coming!" Sango said, shaking out of her revierie. She had been caught, once again, thinking about the past. Running to catch up with Kagome, the two continued their peaceful trek through the woods. They needed a small break from the hard village life, if only for a few hours at most. Sighing, Kagome sat down on the ground and looked up at the evening sky. "It's beatiful." she said wistfully. "I miss sleeping outside like this, under the stars without a care in the world." Kagome said. Sango frowned. "But even then Kagome-chan, we were not without our worries. Naraku was a great threat, as well as the demons that lurked all around us." she said softly. "It seems life will never be without it's difficulties." Kagome said softly. "It will get better Kagome-chan, and you know it. For every great tradgedy, there comes an even greater happiness, and none know this better than we do." Sango said. "Yeah...I guess you're right. I mean, we were frozen, never to see our loved ones again or complete our mission. But look where it landed us? I don't think we'd be the same people we are today if not for it." she said. Sango nodded and sighed softly. "Still...I really do miss being back in the past." she said so softly that Kagome almost didn't hear. Grabbing Sango's hand, she forced her to look at her. "Why think about the past when we have our future to look forward to?!" she exclaimed, and the two girls stood and decided to head back to Konoha, but a weird noise stopped them. "Did you really think to escape that easily?" A sinisterly farmiliar voice asked. Both Kagome and Sango turned, horrified and stunned, to see a huge writhing mass of flesh flying toward them, but something seemed to be off with the mass. It was almost ghostly. Closing their eyes in unison, fearing the impact, they were surprised when it never came. Both girls, weaponless, cautiously opened their eyes to see a farmiliar mane of white hair. "What the hell is going on here?!" the white haired person said.

END  
I'll give you one guess as to who that is. I bet someone will get it!!! Come on now, review for the story!


	2. Once Upon A December

Chyeah! Finally over my writers block, AND on winter break. I expect to update fairly often on this story!

(Maniacle grin) and now, onto the much awaited story!

"Inu...Inuyasha?" Kagome was so quiet it was almost unheard by everyone else. Although, it didn't seem her hanyou companion had even noticed she was there. "Naraku!" He said angrily. Kagome reached out, almost fearfully, only to have her hands go straight through his legs. A bush rustled somewhere behind them, and out emerged a younger version of Kagome with a bow slung over her shoulder. "Inu- Naraku?" her younger version seemed shocked. "Oh no..." younger Kagome said. Suddenly a "Kagome-chan! Duck!" sounded, and Sango's huge boomerang tore through the undergrowth as Kagome dropped to the ground, both Kagome's actually. Miroku and Shippo also appeared, both looking rather sleepy. "Naraku! You die today!" Inuyasha said. Naraku chuckled darkly. "Don't be so sure Inuyasha." Naraku said, and a horde of demons came. With a gasp, Kagome and Sango realised that they were reliving their final battle in the Sengoku Jidai. With a shout, younger Kagome fired off an arrow that slammed into Naraku, who turned red eyes on her and made her freeze. They held knowing. "Your time here is up, miko." he said. She gasped, thinking he had meant that he would kill her. Oh how wrong she had been. Inuyasha fired off a backlash wave, but too late to affect Naraku, he had already made his escape. Kagome, still staring where Naraku had left, didn't notice the demon sneaking up behind her. "Hiraikotsu!" Sango yelled and the demon was torn in half with a shout, spilling innards onto the young preistess. Kagome observed as her youngerself shuddered and turned green. "Ewwww! Ewwie ew ew!" she screeched, then turned and shot the demon that was not so subtly sneaking up on her. His brains also covered her, and Sango who was behind the demon. "Oh for gods sake! I just cleaned this damn thing!" Sango said, chopping another demon in half. "Would you two shut up about your clothes?!" Inuyasha asked, turning around for a brief second. Miroku had him covered however, batting the attacking demon away with his staff. "Yes, and Inuyasha, perhaps you shouldn't worry about insulting your companions while in the midst of a battle, eh?" Miroku said, grinning at Inuyasha's scowl. "Can you all stop acting like kids and kill the demons?!" Shippo asked, rolling his eyes meaningfully. Inuyasha bapped the fox on the head, but the point was taken and everyone was back in battlemode. The battle was fairly shortlived seeing as Inuyasha had gotten sick on it and unleashed a backlash wave, Kagome sending in more power right after with a purifying arrow. "I need a bath!" Kagome exclaimed, covered in demon gore. "Yeah, so do I." Sango exclaimed. "Hurry back, we'll be waiting right here!" Inuyasha exclaimed. Current Kagome looked around in shock. Indeed, this had been that exact same clearing! Sango also seemed shocked. Any minute now the two girls would be ambushed and taken to a shoguns castle, where they would be frozen for hundreds of years. Suddenly Inuyasha, Miroku, Shippo, and every other ghostly figure disappeared from the clearing and it remained quiet for a few moments. Kagome and Sango sat in suspense for the next few moments, not noticing the fireflies gathering around. They didn't notice until the fireflies took shape. "Where the hell have you two been?!" Inuyasha's voice said from the firefly made form that was supposed to look like him. It took them a moment to realize he was talking to them. "Now now Inuyasha, I'm sure there is a good reason. Let's just be thankful their finally back." Miroku's gentle voice said. "Oh dear god I'm having a freaky dream..." Kagome muttered. "Um...actually ladies...you're not dreaming." Miroku added. "Why the hell did it take you two so damn long? You have any idea how long we've been waiting? After we died we came here to see if there was any trace of you, and you come back 500 years later?!" Inuyasha seemed pretty pissed... "Um...we got a little caught up?" Kagome seemed slightly unsure of her answer, and Inuyasha blew a fuse. "MY ASS!" he yelled in her face, her hair flying behind her with the force. "YOU DON'T GET 'CAUGHT UP' FOR 500 YEARS DAMMIT!" Inuyasha added, almost busting a lung.

Kagome returned the 'in your face' attitude with a gusto. "SIT! SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIIIIIIIT!" she screamed and Inuyasha felt a sensation he hadn't felt in years. Inuyasha kissed dirt, re-landscaping Japan's terrain once again. Kagome grinned. "Ahhh, that's the ultimate stress relief." she said. "God damn, I was hoping you wouldn't do that." Inuyasha muttered. Miroku grinned. "Oh how I've wished I could use that over the years." Miroku muttered. "What are you two doing here?" Sango asked. Miroku and Inuyasha stopped for a brief moment. "Oh...ahem...yes. That. Did you two know Naraku is still alive?" Miroku said, slightly dramatic. Kagome rolled her eyes. She could already tell what was about to happen. "Yeah." Sango answered. "Well, he killed us poor souls!" Miroku added. Kagome crossed her arms. "Let me guess, and now we must get revenge on your poor lost souls for the great misdeed that Naraku has done?" Kagome asked. Miroku blinked slowly. "Yeah, how'd you guess?'' he asked, seeemingly bewildered. "Because I know you." Kagome answered, grinning. Her face turned grave, however, only seconds after. "I'm afriad we might not be able to... yet, however. We have a lot of problems that we can't just up and abandon..." Kagome said, almost regretfully. "That's Kagome for you. At least you have your priorities straight." Miroku said with a long sigh before he regained his composure and cracked his eyes open to give the girls a critical glance. "I think you should be heading back now." he said, a small frown marring his features. Sango smiled wistfully. "Yeah...we'll visit as often as possible." she said softly. All she wanted to do was embrace Miroku, but sadly, it was impossible. Standign slowly, she and Kagome left the old battle scene and the farmiliar faces, going back to the perilous routine they had adjusted to.

Crackling, loud, terrible crackling. Screams, they filled the air of Konoha when Kagome awoke, somewhere between four and five AM.

Something was terribly wrong in the streets of Konoha, and she knew it _wasn't_ just like any other attack.


	3. True Meaning of Irony

As Kagome made it into the streets of Konoha, she was met with utter chaos. Flames licked at once beautiful buildings.

Fire had encased Konoha in a deadly grip.

"What in the hell?" a soft voice asked from beneath a clump of dark fur, used to keep them warm. Something was amiss, the hidden figure deducted. Standing up from their small makeshift bed, they looked all around them, sniffing the air occasionally to test scents. Finally a rather startling scent reached their nose. "HOLY CHEESE!" They yelled, grabbing a few essential things before dashing off. (Ok, c'mon peoples, who else would say 'holy cheese'?)

Off in the distance, about a mile away from the (not so) mysterious figure, another mysterious figure was awoken by a rather strange scream. Jumping from their cot in alarm, the just barely registered the dust cloud that was _coming right at them!_ The figure tried to move to safety, but the other figure crashed into him before he could blink. Peering down he was met with farmilar ocean blue eyes. "Funny seeing you here, Sasuke." the girl said, making the boy roll his eyes. "Where the hell did _you_ come from Nezhul?" he asked irratably.

A genin rushed by Kagome, carrying a bucket and smudged with ash and soot. Kagome stopped him quickly. "What's going on?" She was forced to yell to be heard over the racket. The younger boy looked up fearfully. "A missing nin, Hidan he called himself, came and started the village on fire!" he said, frantic. "Ok, listen close kid. I need you to gather up all the other genin, and help them get the civillains out of Konoha, got it?" she asked. The kid nodded and ran off, screaming for the other genin. Kagome dashed back up the stairs to retrieve her bow before heading out to find Sango and the others.

Sango was trying to put out a small fire when Kagome found her, Kagura helping kill the flames with her powerful wind attacks. "You guys!" Kagome called, trying to regain her breath. Sango's head spun, looking to Kagome through the barrier of smog that the fire created. "Kagome?" she called back, uncertain. "Yeah, it's me! Hurry up, we gott get out of here!" Kagome yelled back. "But the village!" Sango protested. "We can rebuild the village, but we can't bring back the dead. Now MOVE!" Kagome yelled back. Both Sango and Kagura complied after only a seconds hesitation, running out of the building. Apparentlym they had left the building just on time, seeing as it collapsed behind them. Sango only spared the building a short, fearful glance knowing that if she hadn't of moved when she did, she would have been trapped in the flaming ruins of her apartment complex.

"What do you mean _fire?_" Sasuke asked Nezhul who was talking too fast for him to comprehend. "You heard me dammit! Konoha's on fire!" she screamed, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. True, she had gotten stronger in the past 3 years. But Sasuke was still stronger, and even as she squirmed and fought with all her stregth, he still easily held her in place. "How do you know?" he asked. "I just do, ok? Do you not care about Konoha anymore?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes. She shook her head furiously. "It doesn't matter if you don't care anymore! _I_ still do, so let me **go!**" she said, pushing him with a powerful force. He lost his balance, but didn't let go of his 'captive', causing them both to go crashing to the floor. Before Nezhul could react, Sasuke had flipped them so that he had her pinned, and was glaring down into her despaired eyes. "Shut up. Do you not realize where you are? There are ninja's here that would tear you apart if they discovered you here!" he said. Nezul quieted, only to glare right back and knock him off her, her anger giving her strength. Jumping to her feet, she stood nose to chin with Sasuke, him being taller, and glared into his furious eyes. Tears stung her eyes as she turned away from him. "Your a traitor Sasuke Uchiha." she whispered, stepping onto his widowsill. Before Sasuke had the chance to stop her, she flung herself soundlessly from the pane, causing him to curse under his breath. "Damn woman." he muttered, making his mind up almost immediatly to follow.

Kagome had finally made it to safety, the Hokage Monument. She was exhausted, having spent most of the past hours running around and searching for stragglers whom the genin hadn't managed to round up. As she collapsed, out of breath and sore, on the floor, Sango approached with some water offering it to the former priestess. Kagome gratefully took the water, giving her hot and weary body the hydration it so desperatley craved. As she stared off of the monument into the ruined streets of the beloved village, she felt hot tears begin to collect in her ducts. Too weak to fight them back, or even wipe them away, she let the tears flow freely down her cheeks, mourning for the village she had come to call her home.

"Looks like we're a little too late..." Sasuke muttered as they finally reached the battered gates of Konoha. The sun was rising, and he could clearly make out Nezhul's startled jump as she spun around, clearly not expecting to see him.

"What in the heck are you doing here?" She asked, her eyes wide and her arms waving, as if trying to make a point. "What do you mean? You didn't want me to come? Well then, I'll just be on my way..." he said, turning but Nezhul stopped him quickly. "No! I didn't mean that! Okay...maybe I did. Don't give me that look! I'm only asking you to stay because Konoha needs all the help it can get." She finished by crossing her arms over her chest. "I highly doubt anyone is still in the village." Sasuke said. "Well, it can't hurt to check. I mean, you never know." Nezhul said, grabbing his hand and kicking down the gate. "You know, we could have just _opened_ the gate." Sasuke said, and Nezhul grinned back at him. "Yeah, but it's so much funner to kick it!" she said, giggling at his expression. He rolled his eyes, but was suddenly jerked forward at an alarming speed with enough force to break a normal persons arm. "The...the ICECREAM SHOP IS GONE!" Nezhul screamed, collapsing to her knees when she had caught sight of the run down rubble that was the remains o0f her all time favorite store in Konoha. Sniffling, she shook her head in disbelief. "It's official. The world is going to hell in a handbasket." she muttered despondently. Sasuke's eyebrow shot up. "Why, because the icecream shop burned down? Your insane." he muttered. She turned to him. "So, where do you think they went?" Nezhul asked, standing and glancing over at him. He looked around for a moment. "Our best bet would be the Hokage Monument." he said. Nezhul looked confused, so he deliberated. "Since you an idiot, I guess I'll explain. They needed to move to high ground, and rock doesn't burn." he said. Nezhul seemed to understand, seeing as she dissapeared the next instant. "Dammit, she's gotten even faster. I didn't even think that was possible." he muttered, also taking off to the monument. Suddenly she reapeared in front of him, and he barely avoided crashing into her. "What is it now?" he asked, angry. "I just remembered you called me an idiot." she said, kicking his shin before taking off again. He rolled his eyes before speeding after her. Once again, however, he was met with her speeding back. This time, not of her own free will.

He watched, in shock, as she flew past him followed by another white blur. The young Bounty huntress slammed painfully into a tree. The blur stopped infront of her, grinning wickedly as they held a Kunai to Nezhul's throat.

"Neechan! I've been looking _everywhere_ for you!" HeiLin's cruel voice snapped. Sasuke moved to help Nezhul but an old man with long grey hair and shining silver eyes stopped him. "Oh, you have not met my sensei, the man who gave me life again. Meet Douji." HeiLin said, turning to grin at Sasuke. The turn was all Nezhul needed as she slammed the blunt end of her naginata into HeiLin's chin, forcing the girl away. HeiLin wiped blood from her lips as Nezhul spun the Naginata slowly, turning it to face her sister, the point merely inches from her throat. HeiLin's eyes grew wild, a st/range fire burning from behind the red depths. A wicked grin spread across her face as she knocked the blade away with her bare hands. Nezhul looked startled, until marks began to apppear on HeiLin. The shape of a pheonix covered her face, and similar red markings flowed around her tanned skin. Nezhul's eyes narrowed.

"So, you've finally unleashed her, eh HeiLin?" Nezhul asked her sister. Sasuke turned, confused as to what Nezhul was saying and the old man Douji took his opportunity to attack. Launching a powerful Chakra blast, the man grinned when it hit Sasuke dead on. "Hey!" Nezhul yelled turning, and HeiLin frowned. "Never turn your back on an opponent!" she growled, launching herself foreward for an attack. Nezhul was fast in her reaction, dodging and kicking her sister away from her before darting off to check on Sasuke. He was just standing up, spitting out a little blood. "You ok?" She asked simply, and left him to his own devices when he nodded. Sasuke understood. She needed to defeat her sister before worrying about him.

"Tsunade!" Kagome gasped when the woman came to sit next to her. Kagome had spent the whole day staring at the sky and thinking. "I think you should see something." Tsunade said softly, leading Kagome away from the rest of the Shinobi. When Kagome reached the front of the monument, where she could look down on Konoha, she gasped. "Is that who I think it is?!" she asked in shock and Tsunade nodded. Kagome prepared to leap from the monument, but Tsunade held her back, shaking her head. "It's her fight Kagome. Let her do what she needs." she said softly. Slowly the rest of the ninja gathered to watch the battles proceed.

The two sisters fought ferouciously. HeiLin seemed troubled, however. "Why won't you transform?!" she asked angrily. Nezhul didn't answer, instead she dissapeared from HeiLin's line of vision, reappearing behind her and elbowing the back of her head viciously. "You're too slow." Nezhul commented, and HeiLin grinned wickedly. "Oh really? What about this?!" she screamed, vanishing. Nezhul's eyes widened and she spun around before looking up just a little to late as HeiLin's foot connected with her jaw, sending her sprawling. Her face throbbed with an almost unbearable pain as she looked back up to HeiLin, who immediately appeared in front of her, shoving a Kunai through the scar where the same thing had happened, three years before. Twisting the kunai wickedly, a malicious smile formed on her lips. "Now will you transform?" she asked, and Nezhul glanced up at her sister briefly. Smiling slightly, she spat blood onto her sisters cruel face. HeiLin scowled kicking Nezhul brutally, the kunai tearing straight through her hand. A scream tore from Nezhuls throat as she grasped her hand desperatly, a blue aura begining to rage around her. A wicked gleam found it's home in the depths of Nezhul's blue eyes, and a dark voice chimed out a haunting question. Haunting, that is, to HeiLin. "Do you remember the day were first recieved this..._gift?"_ she asked, and HeiLin smiled insanely. "Yes...back when we still looked normal. Back when we _were _normal." she answered, and the two girls delved into their memories.

_FlashBack_

_"Mommy?" a black haired brown eyed Nezhul asked the taller woman. "Yes dear?" her mother answered softly. "Why...Why are you crying?" Nehul asked and wiped away some of her mothers tears. The woman sobbed. "I'm so sorry baby..." she said, and Nezhul looked confused. "Sorry for..." she was stopped when a pain shot through the back of her skull._

_"Nezhul...wake up." a soft voice whispered. "HeiLin?" Nezhul asked as her vision cleared. The girl nodded slowly. Nezhul looked cautiously around. "Where are we?" she asked. HeiLin shook her head. It was then that Nezhul noticed she was tied up. "What...what's going on?" she whispered to herself in fear. Suddenly a candle lit, and Nezhul noticed that the flames were a fasinating blue. Someone's voice rang out, singing a prayer in her native tongue, chinese._

_'Forgive me, Oh gods for the sins I have commited. _

_Forgive me, Oh gods for the sins I have yet to commit._

_Forgive me, Oh gods for the sins that I have given life to.' _

_The voice was farmiliar. It was your father saying the prayer. Faintly you could hear your mother sobbing in the distance. More candles flickered to life, giving both girls the opportunity to see better. And they didn't like what they saw. Slowly HeiLin's hands found themselves searching out her sisters comfort, but Nezhul was already trying to squirm out of her bonds. "You two brats are abominations!" they heard their father say. "The doctor had confirmed it for you both. You had been dead at birht. But somehow, by some wicked craft, you lived. We are only permitted to have 2 children, so when I found out you would be girls I stabbed your mothers stomach. You were **dead**. You two are monsters, you hear me?!" he yelled. "What do you plan to do to us?" Nezhul bit back, but HeiLin caught the fear lacing her words. "I'm going to fix my mistake. I'm cursing you girls to forever suffer. You will forever thirst for blood, you will forever feel hate burn at your very core." he said, before picking up a knife with strange carvings and approaching the terrified girls, muttering an incantation as he walked. The words on the knife began to glow, and neither girl missed the insane glint as he brought the blade down upon them._

_End Flashback_

Nezhul gave her left shoulder a glance before tearing away the cloth that lied there. A long, jagged scar lined with glowing kanji characters rested there, a reminder of her curse. She grinned darkly. "When we awoke, we looked like this. Remember?" she asked. HeiLin nodded slowly, frowning at the memory. Dark stripes formed all along Nezhul's body, fangs replacing dull canines, claws replacing fingernails. "You're the one that started the fire, aren't you?" she asked, flexing her knewly grown talons. Her sister grinned devillishly. "Finally, the white tiger and the pheonix will meet in battle. A battle to the death." she said, reminding the both of them of their curse. Nezhul, the white tiger. HeiLin, the pheonix. Cat like slits appeared in Nezhul's eyes as she crouched down and swayed, watching HeiLin's movements with her calculating feline eyes. HeiLin launched herself into the air and remained there, grinning wildly as she sent huge fireballs hurtling down toward her sister. Nezhul dodged the attacks, running up the ashen remains of a nearby building before she kicked off and flew towards her sister, brandishing her faithful Naginata. HeiLin pulled out a pair of curved Sais and blocked the attack, pushing her sister back down to the ground.

"Your little friend doesn't stand a chance against my student, boy." Douji said with a grin as he deflected another one of Sasuke's attacks. "And you stand no chance against me." he added, flinging a kunai of his own. Sasuke just smirked as he sent a katon ryuu at the cocky old man, who just barely dodged the attack.

Nezhul dodged another one of HeiLins fireballs, sending an earth jutsu up at the girl who was hit dead on, knocking her out of the sky. The two girls weapons met, both skilled with their signature weapon. HeiLin was great with her Sais, sending flurry after flurry of attacks at her sister, who blocked skillfully knowing she wasn't as stong as HeiLin, but much faster. Nezhul waited for her oppourtunity to counterstike, slicing her sisters stomach before butting her powerfully with the other end of the naginata. But it came at a cost as one of HeiLin's Sais found it's target, burrowing itself in Nezhul's thigh. She collapsed with a thud and HeiLin grinned triumphantly.

Sasuke paused in his flurry of attacks when he saw Nezhul hit the ground. He knew from expirence that the girl could handle herself well in desperate situations, but he was unsure. The girl had almost died on him many times. She was a nuisance, an annoyance, and overly cheerful, but she was still an excellent warrior, a supportive friend and a worthy ally, or opponent. He didn't want her to die, knowing he could have prevented it.

HeiLin pushed her sister down and stepped on the wound her Sai had inflicted, making Nezhul squirm and cry out in pain. Smiling at her sisters pitiful state, HeiLin held her blade to Nezhul's throat and the girl looked up at her in defiance. Drawing the blade back, she prepared to strike. "Is this really what you want?" Nezhul asked, and HeiLin froze. "What?!" she asked angrily. Nezhul held her gaze unyeildingly. "Is this really what you want? Or... is it what he wants?" Nezhul asked, glancing over to the man Sasuke was battling. HeiLin glared. "Of course this is what I want! You killed me, remember?!" she yelled angrily. Nezhul shook her head. "Then why didn't you kill me in the hospital when I was injured and unable to fight back?" Nezhul asked. HeiLin glared. "You wouldn't understand!" she spat. Nezhul's eyes softened and she shook her head. "HeiLin... you fight me without heart. You hesitate to kill me, even though you have every oppotunity to do so. What happened to you?" Nezhul asked, tears collecting in her eyes. Weakly, she pushed herself up and knocked the weapons away gently, embracing her sister delicately. "Oh HeiLin...I understand..." she whispered softly. HeiLin's eyes grew furious as she knocked Nezhul down again, poising her Sais again. "You understand nothing, you stupid girl!" she screeched, once again preparing her deathblow. "All you ever wanted was to be accepted, HeiLin. He offered you that which your heart yearned for. And for that you would go to the ends of the earth for him." Nezhul said. HeiLin scowled and cut a thin line along Nezhuls throat. "Shut up! Do you not understand that I hold you life in my hands?!" she asked. Something wet splashed onto Nezhul's face. "HeiLin...he's using you. Plase HeiLin... just stop. You don't have to..." Nezhul said, but HeiLin had already dropped her Sais, breaking down into sobs.

"Damn. She broke down. Useless bitch, guess I'll have to finish the brat myself." Douji said, and chakra strings formed in his fingertips. Grinning, he swung his arm and the strings wrapped themselves around Nezhul's frail neck, lifting her in the air. Desperatly clawwing at the invisible strings, Nezhul tried to fight the uncounciousness she knew she was slipping into. As black spots began to invade her vision, she heard a whistling noise followed by the gurgle of a dying man. The chakra strings released her and she glanced over to Douji, only to see a Sais protruding from his neck. The last thing she saw before she lost conciousness was red eyes, if they were Sasuke's or HeiLins, she couldn't tell.

"What the hell is _she_ doing here?" Sango asked accusingly as Sasuke and HeiLin approached the monuement, Sasuke carrying Nezhul seeing as he hadn't trusted HeiLin enough. HeiLin understood, ofcourse, that his mistrust was natural. As soon as Nezhul was set down, they began questioning both Sasuke and HeiLin.

Nezhul didn't know what time she woke up, all she was aware of was Kagome and Sango's voices, followed by Sasuke, then finally HeiLin's. Wait a minute..."HEILIN!" Nezhul shouted, practically jumping out of her makeshift bed. The red eyed girl looked startled. "What?!" she asked, crawling over to her 'older' sister. (Their the same age now... because all those years Nezhul was trapped in ice and HeiLin was dead.) "Whoa, you mean that wasn't just some freaky sugar induced dream? Then that means...my hand!" Nezhul said, glancing down to her left hand. "Geeze HeiLin, you sure did a number on my poor hand, didn't you, it's practically torn in half!" she said. Kagome had stitched her hand up as best she could, hoping she could recover it. Nezhul tenderly flexed her hand, grinning up at Kagome when it moved. "It's ALIVE!" she said dramatically, acting like someone from a frankenstien movie. HeiLin rolled her eyes slightly, trying not to grin. "Hey Nezhul-chan, your hair grew back!" Kagome exclaimed, and Nezhul nodded. "Ha, who do I remind you of?" she asked, flipping her hair slowly and dramatically. Kagome and Sango's eyes widened slightly. "Ino..." they both said at the same time. Nezhul grinned. "How'd you guess?" she asked, but the look on their faces told all. "She's right behind me, isn't she?" she asked, and they both nodded. "Thought so..." she said, taking a deep breath before turning around with a huge grin. "Hi Ino!" she said happily. Ino practically tackled her into a hug. "Don't 'Hi Ino' me, missy! Where have you been for the past three years? I mean, it's all well and dandy that you back, but you can't just up and dissapear, then come back beaten to a pulp and act like everythings ok! You have any idea how worried you had everyone?!" Ino asked, not even noticing Sasuke, to which he was eternally grateful. "Um... yeah...could you repeat that, this time not on top of me, screaming in my face, and talking so fast?" Nezhul asked with a sweatdrop. Ino got off her and took a deep breath, but Nezhul jumped up with a nervous look on her face. "NO! I was just kidding! Please don't repeat it!" she said, and Ino looked confused. Nezhul was suddenl yanked to the floor by the hem of her shirt. "You shouldn't be up yet." Sasuke said coldly, a smirk on his face when she pouted and rubbed her butt. "Ow...did you have to yank me down like that? I think you broke my butt..." she muttered. HeiLin's eyebrows arched before she grinned to herself. She saw an opportunity to help her sister out on something, and she planned on having fun while she did it too.

Authors note: I just thought of something...

How many of you guys think it would be absolutely hilarious if Nezhul met Gai-sensei and Lee? I just realised I never introduced these groups. Seeing as Nezhul kinda weird like them...it could lead to some funny stuff...

It's decided! (good guy pose) They MUST meet!


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